Krav Maga

Origins

Krav maga is a form of martial art that has its origins in Europe. Jewish communities used it to defend themselves against Fascist persecution during the Second World War. Eventually this form of combat was brought to Israel.

It soon gained popularity amongst the Israeli military forces. Krav maga is currently the standard martial art for defence organisations in this country. The armed forces have utilised this particular fighting style due to the fact that it has applications in real life war scenarios.

Technique

Unlike older fighting sports, krav maga was designed to specifically be used in defensive combat. Users do not focus on form or point scoring. Instead, the main purpose is to simply disable an opponent as swiftly as possible.

The fighting style borrows various moves from other well known contact sports. It can be considered a precursor to the mixed martial arts that have become popular in recent years. Western styles such as boxing and wrestling have had an influence on krav maga. So do Asian ones such as judo and karate.

The main ethos of krav maga is to favour aggression in order to end a conflict quickly. Practitioners are encouraged to be as brutal as necessary to achieve this goal. In krav maga, in order to defend oneself a fighter must put up an offensive front.

Popularity

Krava maga has since spread all across the world. It has gained favour with practitioners due to its effectiveness when compared to more traditional forms of martial arts. There are now training centres in numerous different countries.

Krav maga has also proven to be popular in modern culture. Despite being in the public consciousness for a relatively short time, the martial art is already in a range of well known media. In Hollywood, fight choreographers use krav maga to make fictional on screen characters look unstoppable.

Superheroes in comic books often use the martial art to fight off enemies. Characters in the Marvel universe such as Daredevil and Nick Fury have been portrayed as krav maga practitioners. So too have the Batman characters in the Arkham series.

Video games are another media form that have embraced krav maga. In the Hitman series the player uses it to perform a series of silent assassinations. The main character in these games, Agent 47 is one of the most famous users of the fighting style. Assassins Creed is a video game franchise where krav maga also plays an important role.

This increased exposure has helped to introduce new people to the sport. This in turn has led to an increase in the number of people who flock to training centres. It seems likely that we will see even more users of krav maga in the years to come.